Tire foam, remove or not?

[Chewy13]

Such one-off events are extremely peculiar. And rare.

There are literally MILLIONS of these acoustic tires on the road, yet these are the first complaints I've ever read. Foam failure would be a warranty claim, so covered for replacement at no- or low-cost.

There ARE benefits in noise reduction, so this appears to be very much adieu about next to nothing.

Keep your foam and enjoy the better, quieter ride.

So rare and one-off, that I searched this forum and found people describing my exact symptoms. This gave me the information to know it was foam before it failed, and that when it did fail I suspected it and told the service advisor about it - and they confirmed it.
While there are millions of these tires - not everyone goes on forums to complain about the issues for us to see and search. Service advisors and techs know about the tire foam issue, but they're certainly not going to advertise it.

Yes it was replaced under warranty at no cost. But I also had to take time off work 4 different times to get them to troubleshoot it (and deal with fighting the SCs to even acknowledge there was a problem), and finally on the 4th time (catastrophic failure) they replaced it. It also meant that I couldn't drive anywhere that required going on the highway while it was failed. So yeah, no monetary cost - but the opportunity cost and the inconvenience doesn't outweigh the benefits for me. Everyone's different, so leave that decision up to the individual person - but in this case, OP is looking for opinions on what to do.

 

[804son]

You are much more likely to introduce problems by removing the foam, rather than leaving it in the tire.

 

[fholbert]

Sorry, I should have said he had stopped in Casselman to charge. So unsure of when exactly it let go, but after slowing from highway speeds, I guess would have given the chance for the portion of foam to fall out of place. Once continuing his drive, the part of foam was probably in a different area of the tire.

I drove it, it was bad. I’m also the one who got it in for same day service at the SC by my house. It was the foam, or at least part of it.

Had the tire been repaired in the past, the foam cut, replaced and reglued?

 

[Beans4Me]

@804son I'm curious what problems I'd introduce by removing the foam? Discount Tire already removed a chunk to fix a puncture. They did not replace the foam. Probably put 1000 miles on it since the tire was patched without issue.

 

[JaredM3]

Had the tire been repaired in the past, the foam cut, replaced and reglued?

Not that I know of, car was relatively new at the time. From what I understand, it started to peel away and balled up. If he still had the car I could pull up the invoice in the app, but he sold it and moved on to a Model Y

@804son I'm curious what problems I'd introduce by removing the foam? Discount Tire already removed a chunk to fix a puncture. They did not replace the foam. Probably put 1000 miles on it since the tire was patched without issue.

There would be no problems. The foam is supposedly there to minimize road noise, therefore removing it would introduce more road noise. I’m sure I’m not the only one running replacement tires with no foam. Have not experienced any extra road noise either.

 

[804son]

@804son I'm curious what problems I'd introduce by removing the foam? Discount Tire already removed a chunk to fix a puncture. They did not replace the foam. Probably put 1000 miles on it since the tire was patched without issue.

Removing the foam has the possibilty of creating several problems, depending on skill level and the time spent removing the foam properly. 1) Possibility of cutting Foam you can potentially damage the inside of the tire. 2) Getting most of the foam out but not all can cause an errant piece of foam to become detached. 3) If you do get all of the foam removed, then you have a bunch of unencapsulated sealant in the tire, this can come loose and cause balance issues. 4) Unencapsulated sealant clogging the valve stem is possibility.
The point is none of these are all that serious issues, but vs. just leaving it alone as designed by the manufacturer with virtually no reason to remove it or benefit of removing it. The chances of the factory foam causing problems is really Zero. The decision here is pretty self explanatory, spend calories elsewhere removing the foam is no value add.

 

[Chewy13]

no reason to remove it or benefit of removing it. The chances of the factory foam causing problems is really Zero.

This has already been disproven here in this thread, and in other threads. It can come loose and cause balance issues making the car undriveable at highway speeds until fixed.

 

[804son]

This has already been disproven here in this thread, and in other threads. It can come loose and cause balance issues making the car undriveable at highway speeds until fixed.

One car doesn't not a pattern make.
There are probably millions of these tires on vehicles around the globe. There's no systemic issue with factory foam lined tires.

 

[Chewy13]

One car doesn't not a pattern make.
There are probably millions of these tires on vehicles around the globe. There's no systemic issue with factory foam lined tires.

According to the Service Advisor it happens "often", and happened to his car as well.

And to further prove it's not an isolated problem to just one car.
5 Members on this thread also have had the issue. One member said service quickly knew what the issue was.

Tire Wheel Vibration - Tire Foam Inserts do come loose

This a PSA message for anyone experiencing vibration form an out of balance tire that isn't fixed by a simple rebalance. The foam insert can come loose! I took my MY in 3 times to get the tires balanced and quiet a vibration that would get really bad at 65mph+. I went to 2 Tesla dealers in CA...

teslamotorsclub.com

Another member here:

Vibration at higher speeds

After having my M3 serviced a few months ago for problems with the TPMS, I'm noticing a shimmy/vibration at higher speeds, like 70+. It has taken this long to notice this as I haven't gone anywhere, and you never go that fast within the city limits here. I was on a smooth interstate and as...

teslamotorsclub.com

Another here:

strange oscillating thumping sound at speeds of 70mph or so

Hi Guys, I'm running 19x9.5 with 265/35/19 tires on Model 3P and I noticed at speeds of 70mph+ I get a strange oscillating thumping sound emanating from the car with a little vibration under my seat. It seems to happen on and off when I'm driving. I could drive a couple miles and then it slowly...

teslamotorsclub.com

That's 10 incidents that we know of, and where I stopped searching. I get it, there are millions of tires. But the chances are not zero as you claim, and there is a potential benefit of removing the foam.

 

[804son]

View attachment 991198
According to the Service Advisor it happens "often", and happened to his car as well.

And to further prove it's not an isolated problem to just one car.
5 Members on this thread also have had the issue. One member said service quickly knew what the issue was.

Tire Wheel Vibration - Tire Foam Inserts do come loose

This a PSA message for anyone experiencing vibration form an out of balance tire that isn't fixed by a simple rebalance. The foam insert can come loose! I took my MY in 3 times to get the tires balanced and quiet a vibration that would get really bad at 65mph+. I went to 2 Tesla dealers in CA...

teslamotorsclub.com

Another member here:

Vibration at higher speeds

After having my M3 serviced a few months ago for problems with the TPMS, I'm noticing a shimmy/vibration at higher speeds, like 70+. It has taken this long to notice this as I haven't gone anywhere, and you never go that fast within the city limits here. I was on a smooth interstate and as...

teslamotorsclub.com

Another here:

strange oscillating thumping sound at speeds of 70mph or so

Hi Guys, I'm running 19x9.5 with 265/35/19 tires on Model 3P and I noticed at speeds of 70mph+ I get a strange oscillating thumping sound emanating from the car with a little vibration under my seat. It seems to happen on and off when I'm driving. I could drive a couple miles and then it slowly...

teslamotorsclub.com

That's 10 incidents that we know of, and where I stopped searching. I get it, there are millions of tires. But the chances are not zero as you claim, and there is a potential benefit of removing the foam.

If you had 50 or 100 instances, on a Forum related to cars and their issues. it would not register as a systemic problem. Based on the millions of tires on the road with foam. Heck just in Teslas there are millions, not to mention the other car makes using them and aftermarket tires. Waste your time and effort if you chose taking the foam out of your tires. But do not attempt to call this a problem that needs a solution.

 

[UoMDeacon]

View attachment 991198
According to the Service Advisor it happens "often", and happened to his car as well.

And to further prove it's not an isolated problem to just one car.
5 Members on this thread also have had the issue. One member said service quickly knew what the issue was.

Tire Wheel Vibration - Tire Foam Inserts do come loose

This a PSA message for anyone experiencing vibration form an out of balance tire that isn't fixed by a simple rebalance. The foam insert can come loose! I took my MY in 3 times to get the tires balanced and quiet a vibration that would get really bad at 65mph+. I went to 2 Tesla dealers in CA...

teslamotorsclub.com

Another member here:

Vibration at higher speeds

After having my M3 serviced a few months ago for problems with the TPMS, I'm noticing a shimmy/vibration at higher speeds, like 70+. It has taken this long to notice this as I haven't gone anywhere, and you never go that fast within the city limits here. I was on a smooth interstate and as...

teslamotorsclub.com

Another here:

strange oscillating thumping sound at speeds of 70mph or so

Hi Guys, I'm running 19x9.5 with 265/35/19 tires on Model 3P and I noticed at speeds of 70mph+ I get a strange oscillating thumping sound emanating from the car with a little vibration under my seat. It seems to happen on and off when I'm driving. I could drive a couple miles and then it slowly...

teslamotorsclub.com

That's 10 incidents that we know of, and where I stopped searching. I get it, there are millions of tires. But the chances are not zero as you claim, and there is a potential benefit of removing the foam.

Let's say there are 1,000 instances of the foam causing an issue. That's 0.02% of Ys and 3s of the road. I guess it's up to you to weigh if that probability is lower or higher than someone mucking up a tire foam removal by themselves.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Let's say there are 1,000 instances of the foam causing an issue. That's 0.02% of Ys and 3s of the road. I guess it's up to you to weigh if that probability is lower or higher than someone mucking up a tire foam removal by themselves.

Yep, if you screw up a foam removal, you are on the hook for it. The posts above detail the potential issues.

This is the first I heard of this problem so I would categorize it as rare.

It is up to OP to balance what the benefits are of doing so vs the costs.

 

[Chewy13]

If you had 50 or 100 instances, on a Forum related to cars and their issues. it would not register as a systemic problem. Based on the millions of tires on the road with foam. Heck just in Teslas there are millions, not to mention the other car makes using them and aftermarket tires. Waste your time and effort if you chose taking the foam out of your tires. But do not attempt to call this a problem that needs a solution.

I'm not calling for a solution - heck I'm still running on tires that have foam in them!
I'm providing evidence that shows that you're wrong in that there is more than a zero percent chance of foam causing a problem, because it happens, and an educated consumer who knows about the .1% chance of something happening may sway them to purchase tires without foam in the future, or in this case remove the foam from their tires because that's what OP is soliciting feedback for.

 

[804son]

I'm not calling for a solution - heck I'm still running on tires that have foam in them!
I'm providing evidence that shows that you're wrong in that there is more than a zero percent chance of foam causing a problem, because it happens, and an educated consumer who knows about the .1% chance of something happening may sway them to purchase tires without foam in the future, or in this case remove the foam from their tires because that's what OP is soliciting feedback for.

You are supporting that there is a problem and that removing the foam from the tires is a solution. The fact is that there is no systemic problem. Notice I used the word "Systemic" I am not saying it has never happened. But there is more likely a chance of causing problems removing the foam than leaving the manufacturers foam in place.

 

[KD6-49]

Such one-off events are extremely peculiar. And rare.

There are literally MILLIONS of these acoustic tires on the road, yet these are the first complaints I've ever read. Foam failure would be a warranty claim, so covered for replacement at no- or low-cost.

There ARE benefits in noise reduction, so this appears to be very much adieu about next to nothing.

Keep your foam and enjoy the better, quieter ride.

Warranty - not so much. I have a total of 8K on my model 3 and recently experienced increased vibration that I thought was just my imagination. After looking into it by reading a few of the previous posts here, I decided to take it to a Tesla service center. They were great and the technician took a ride with me and within the first 15 seconds on the freeway, it was his diagnosis of loose foam in at least one tire. He says it is pretty common. They found 2 tires with loose foam that were removed. Not covered under warranty just like any other "road damage". There is no chance I will buy tires with foam on this car. $200 and 3 hours of time to get this fixed and hoping it doesn't happen to the other two.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Warranty - not so much. I have a total of 8K on my model 3 and recently experienced increased vibration that I thought was just my imagination. After looking into it by reading a few of the previous posts here, I decided to take it to a Tesla service center. They were great and the technician took a ride with me and within the first 15 seconds on the freeway, it was his diagnosis of loose foam in at least one tire. He says it is pretty common. They found 2 tires with loose foam that were removed. Not covered under warranty just like any other "road damage". There is no chance I will buy tires with foam on this car. $200 and 3 hours of time to get this fixed and hoping it doesn't happen to the other two.

For a tire warranty claim, you have to find an authorized dealer of the tire and typically it is pro-rated. Tesla won't be handling any tire warranties. That was true of the Pirelli warranty too (they included a road hazard warranty given they don't officially allow repairing their foam tires).

 

[Chewy13]

Warranty - not so much. I have a total of 8K on my model 3 and recently experienced increased vibration that I thought was just my imagination. After looking into it by reading a few of the previous posts here, I decided to take it to a Tesla service center. They were great and the technician took a ride with me and within the first 15 seconds on the freeway, it was his diagnosis of loose foam in at least one tire. He says it is pretty common. They found 2 tires with loose foam that were removed. Not covered under warranty just like any other "road damage". There is no chance I will buy tires with foam on this car. $200 and 3 hours of time to get this fixed and hoping it doesn't happen to the other two.

Thanks for sharing your experience and reinforcing that this in fact something that happens.

 

[Chewy13]

For a tire warranty claim, you have to find an authorized dealer of the tire and typically it is pro-rated. Tesla won't be handling any tire warranties. That was true of the Pirelli warranty too (they included a road hazard warranty given they don't officially allow repairing their foam tires).

FWIW Tesla did replace my tire, with foam failure at 2000 miles at no cost to me under warranty.

 

[stopcrazypp]

FWIW Tesla did replace my tire, with foam failure at 2000 miles at no cost to me under warranty.

You were lucky your SC did that. The other threads I read had the same thing happened as with others where Tesla never offered a replacement, but an authorized tire dealer was able to do that given the warranty is serviced by the tire manufacturer. Perhaps the Goodyear and low mileage might have to do with it.

 

[Iron]

There is a saying that I find valuable. "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix."

Yes, the issue exists, but If your car is not having the problem, leave it alone. Cross that bridge when you get to it.